My Musical Musings Blog | betsyleebaileymusic.com - The Music of Betsy Lee Bailey

Listening as a Singer

1/20/2026

When attending a band concert the other night, it occurred to me how I must listen to music differently than instrumentalists. A few of the band's concert pieces used folk tunes as the basis of their composition. Because the music separated melodic phrases with wild experimental flights into rhythmic and tonal fantasies, I found myself angry with the composers that they messed with those beautiful folk tunes.

Now, I usually enjoy developmental instrumental sections, but not when a beautiful, poignant, longing folk tune such as "Shenandoah" is torn apart so abstractly!!!

Is this just a singer's "thing?" We like to be able to sing the words or at least hum the melody in our minds as we follow along. For singers, the words are inseparably connected to the notes. (Okay, probably more so for sopranos who usually carry the melody more than other choral sections. )

It is true that I never learned to play a band or orchestral instrument, so I admit that I don't think or listen in clarinet or viola terms. I don't geek out on repeated percussion or strings accompaniment patterns. Experimental sounds just for effect are great for movie scores, but I have trouble sitting through entire concerts of abstract or techno music. Those effects may be great fun for the instrumentalists to play, but I am grateful when they are not the main attraction in the concert.

Let's just face it, I like melody. I like melodies that soar and have words that give meaning to and paint a picture to go with that melody.

Most Americans know the folk song "Shenandoah." As choral or solo singers, we probably know at least three or four arrangements of "Shenandoah" we could sing at the drop of a hat. The words and music just stick in the memory no matter which composer's rendition is done. The marriage of melody to words in that song is that strong.

Perhaps I am just a singer who enjoys folk hymns. Perhaps folk hymn tunes have lasted so long because they have that something that invokes deep meanings that cannot adequately be stated any other way than through music. Perhaps I am moved when the text and melody pair so well that the Spirit can witness eternal truths when I sing or hear them.

Unfortunately, sometimes, a hymn text gets paired with a hymn tune that doesn't really match. The words may be joyful and soaring, but the tune is slow and plodding. "Come All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth" by W.W. Phelps is one of those texts that really needed a more soaring melody, more like a folk hymn tune. Here is my attempt to give this text new life.

Yes, I adore folk hymn tunes. This upbeat, praising hymn could also be sung for Easter.

The Plight of a Small Choir Choral Director

1/6/2026

Very often I hear about the plight of a new Choir Director that is charged with getting a small choir up and running. This person may not have training beyond a few piano lessons plus a few years of singing in school choirs during their youth. They may have sung in some Church choirs, but really don't know where to start.

"How do I choose music?" "I don't feel confident teaching parts, what can I do?" "If I don't know what I'm doing, how can I inspire people to come be part of my choir?"

My advice is to start small. No use trying to start with elaborate SATB choral pieces by the Great Composers if you have only six women and a couple of men. Fortunately, there are many beautiful hymns and sacred songs that can be sung unison or two part, or possibly SAB. Start there and build your skills as well as your group's skills.

Work on Breath Management, Posture, Matching Pitches, Unifying Vowels, and Phrasing. Sometimes a choir director has to use Strange Analogies to get his singers to understand what to do. A song sung in one or two-parts beautifully is more satisfying for the congregation to listen to than a sophisticated piece done poorly. Keep focused on the most important choir goals. The point of preparing choir music for Church Services is to invite the Spirit into the meeting and to testify of Christ.

Another problem I hear about is that it takes too long to prepare pieces to perform. Well, obviously, if the choir members are having trouble learning --- the music chosen is too difficult. Choose something else more in keeping with their interests and skills particularly as you are building your directing chops. (The inexperienced director can take workshops in person or online or maybe get some individualized training.)

One wise choral director said that planning the choir's schedule was like juggling balls of different sizes, keeping them all moving through the air and dropping none of them. The key is to have variety in the mix. Have several straight-forward easy pieces to balance having a couple of "challenge" songs.

With that strategy, the choir can perform consistently and work up to some more interesting music, while building their skills. Unfortunately, I hear of many new choir directors who give up before they even give their group a chance to have any success.

Here's a place to start: Hymns arranged for Easy 2-Part Mixed Chorus

Are You Famous?

12/2/2025

Yesterday I sat in a waiting room while my car was in the shop. Two other customers were willing to engage in some friendly chat as we waited. The man wore a Missionary Badge and explained how he was getting his car serviced before they left for their mission to New Zealand. He and his wife were called as medical support for the missionaries in that region. The lady next to me had a cute small dog with her. She spent most of the time hoping the dog would be well behaved as we all waited.

The man asked questions about me and as sometimes happens, I mentioned that I served my mission as part of the Tabernacle Choir. As we chatted, we shared stories about how we loved music. He had played flute in the Mormon Youth Symphony for 17 years, even during his time in Med School. We shared about kids and grandkids and how being grandparents is a full-time gig. In the process I told him about how I write Choral Music as well as Children's Theater. He even asked for my web-site to send to his daughter who helps with the school plays in her kid's school. Then his car was ready and he left.

Suddenly, the lady next to me asked, "Are you famous?"

I said, "No, not at all."

Then she said, "You look so familiar. I wonder how I would know your face?"

She asked if she would have known me from watching Music and the Spoken Word. I said probably not because I sat in a place that got very little camera time. Then I had to explain how the cameramen planned their shots for TV.

Then her car was ready and she left. So random. You never know how conversations will go with friendly strangers.

Messiah Concert Dec. 5th and 6th

That interchange got me thinking about those wonderful times singing with the Tabernacle Choir, especially when we recorded the entire oratorio of Handel's Messiah. We worked long and hard to have it memorized for our performances and recording.

So now, I am singing with the Wasatch Master Chorale of Provo, Utah, in a performance of Handel's Messiah along with the Timpanogos Symphony Orchestra led by Dr. Douglas Pew.

I have to admit that having the choruses we are singing memorized makes singing less stressful, even if we are singing at very fast tempi.

For some Christmas joy, please come to our performances this weekend DEC. 5-6th 7:30 pm at the Orem High School Auditorium.

Setting Up for the Wrong Holiday

10/31/2025

"It's Halloween again. We're all a year older." That is a favorite line spoken by the maid in "Meet Me in Saint Louis." My sister suggested that we watch that movie from the 1940's as we hand out candy to the Trick-or-Treaters tonight for Halloween. That movie shows a family living through all the holidays, even Halloween, during the year 1903. Though their depiction of Halloween is quite different from what we experience nowadays, it's still pretty fun to watch. We don't get a lot of kids coming by my house, so we need to have something else to keep us entertained tonight.

Friends and Family Halloween circa 1988

Listening to my sister and giving in to her ideas has been a hobby of mine, you might say. A few years back, I listened to her and ended up spending my Halloween holiday setting up for Christmas. It was 2020 and we were in the middle of COVID19 restrictions, so we had to keep to our family pods. But an interesting opportunity came up and she encouraged me to jump on it.

My sister found out about how to submit a video for a Virtual Christmas Concert sponsored by Temple Square Performances. She got excited and approached me saying, "They are looking especially for composers to submit their original Christmas songs. Who knows, someone out there might have the next 'Silent Night' or 'It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas' and just needs a way to get it heard! Let's round up our family and record one of your songs! They also said that groups are given priority over soloists."

Anyway, my sister and I brainstormed about what we could do to learn, rehearse, record and create a video using our family in three short weeks! We decided that we would just use family members living close by who are descendants of our parents, Tom and Carolyn Lee - The Lee Family Singers. We planned to feature our little children in a Nativity Pageant tableau. Just the older kids and adults sang and played instruments.

Family Christmas morning circa 1993

So for Halloween, the locals of my big extended family, packed into my family room and were filmed lip-syncing to our recording of "On a Sacred, Still and Silent Night" SATB with Violin with some of the young kids and grandkids acting out a Nativity Pageant. Seemed a very strange way to celebrate Halloween, but nobody grumbled, after all they got to dress up in costumes.

I don't know if our video was used in the Virtual Christmas Concert on Temple Square. But it was a lot of fun to get together and sing, especially since having so many restrictions about gathering in 2020. What a way to celebrate Halloween.

Here are the two runner-up songs we could have made videos singing, but we went with the one completely original song. "O Tidings of Comfort and Joy" SATB, "A Christmas Carol" SSATBB

Hymns for Thanksgiving

10/27/2025

Church choirs throughout America are probably busily learning some songs of praise and thanksgiving to honor this season of the year. I was born on Thanksgiving Day, so it has always been my favorite holiday. (In fact, I always have pumpkin pie instead of birthday cake to celebrate.) There are many beautiful praise hymns and songs about giving thanks, but one year I stumbled on a great hymn text that I felt needed a new setting.

W.W. Phelps 1792-1872

One of the most hopeful, praising, thankful texts I have ever found is "Come All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth" by W.W. Phelps. The words are gorgeous and speak of someday meeting in the celestial choirs to sing His praises above. (That's surely where I want to be!)

In the 1985 L.D.S. hymnal, this upbeat, cheerful text is paired with a very plodding hymn tune in duple meter. Now, anyone who reads the text separately from the music will instantly see that the meter needs to be in triple. Besides that, the melodic phrases don't match the imagery in the text. So, I decided to write a 3/4 time melody for this text and make sure it supported the word painting.

A few years ago, my home ward choir sang this piece, in the SSATB version. We have an unusual choir because we have many fine singers in every section, plus several renown music professors, instrumentalists, composers, solo singers, and choir conductors. (Living close to BYU campus does have its perks.) The performance went well, and I was pleased. (What a nice Birthday present to me!)

The program listed not only the song title, but had my name credited as the composer. So after the meeting, many people came up to me and gave such ecstatic comments about our performance. Most of them said things like, "I recognized the text, remembering that it was in our hymnal, but I didn't recognize the melody." One man said, "I had to look in the hymn book just to make sure! Wow! Then I realized that you had put that text to a whole new melody. That hymn really needed a facelift and you did it! The words came alive! Well done."

Later in the evening the sweetest thing happened. About 25 of us were gathered for a noisy family birthday celebration dinner in my house, when unexpectedly, the doorbell rang. A bunch of kids ran to answer it, so I went too. A neighbor and two of his sons (ages 13 and 10) were standing there holding out a plate of cookies. One of the boys said, "We really liked your song today in Church, so we made you some cookies. Thank you. That really made our Sunday."

I don't think I have ever had a more tender and sincere compliment from young boys! I was really touched.

Enjoy "Come All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth" SSATB or "Come All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth" SSAA

Looking forward to a Happy Thanksgiving!

Music with a Life of Its Own

10/14/2025

One of my favorite musical scores is "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" by Alan Mencken and Steven Sondheim. The story is quite dark, too dark for small children, although the Disney animators tried very hard to put in humorous sequences and characters to lighten the mood. Still, the riddle "who is the monster and who is the man?" and looking forward through the darkness to "the new millennium when things will be brighter someday" are not the normal light, jovial themes for young children's entertainment.

The musical score is chocked full of memorable tunes in a variety of styles, everything from medieval Latin Requiem chant to music hall soft shoe. The vocal talent used for this movie is incredible. Some of the songs are a vocal tour de force and take special singers with extraordinary ranges to pull off a performance. Yet many of the songs are catchy and fun for anyone to sing.

It has become a trend that at the end of every Alan Mencken Disney musical, that one song will be sung as exit music done by pop singers in their particular style. (Quite a departure from the style in the original context of the movie.) And that reminds me of something I was advised about long ago.

Publishing your music means giving it away.

One of my mentors said this to me years ago. I didn't really believe him then. At that point in time, I had not written very many songs and I had not had anything published as yet. I had supposed what he meant was that the music publishing business was not very lucrative. Whereas, that statement is probably true, I think he had a different meaning in mind. He wanted to warn me that sometimes a song will take on a life of its own.

Composers tend to think that what they write down is how a piece of music will be used and performed forevermore. (After all, they take great care to include all the intended notes, AND also performance directions using dynamic, tempo, and expression marks.) That, it turns out, is a very naive notion.

First of all, composers tend to write for a certain occasion and set of performers. They imagine in their minds the end product as they are writing. Well, in reality, the end product will always be subject to the talent and proficiencies of the performers. The performers may execute the notes according to the score, but the they will also add their own interpretations. They may also have a completely different idea about how it should be performed!

For example, TEMPO makes a big difference! A song the composer intended to be performed upbeat, will have a completely different flavor if performed at a slower tempo. The mood may go from "charged with excitement" to "peaceful and quiet" like a lullaby.

Then, there are experiments with RHYTHM and BEAT. A song can become something completely different when the melody and chord progression is played against a Latin or Rock beat, or changed to Waltz time.

INSTRUMENTATION can also change the entire song. The composer who wrote for a large choir with orchestra may be shocked to hear his song performed by just a soloist and guitar. He may also be delighted.

As a COMPOSER, I have been surprised and mostly delighted when I hear how my songs are being used. Surprised at how widespread across the world they have been performed. Delighted to hear of and sometimes get to visit a school or Church when my music is being performed or watch a cover on a YouTube video..

There have been times, though, when I scratch my head and wonder how the performers came up with their unique interpretations. That's when I remember what my mentor told me that "publishing your music means giving it away."

It is TRUE! Sometimes a song will take on a life of its own.

"King of Kings" SATB with Soloists is an original Christmas song that has been sung by soloists and choirs around the globe. It definitely has taken on a life of it's own!

"King of Kings" Duet for Soprano and Baritone

"Just Because" Visits from Family

7/26/2025

July brings holidays, vacations, and Family Reunions. As I was conducting the hymns last Sunday, I wondered if we'd even have half our members in attendance that day. Looking around the congregation, I saw entire rows empty where stalwart attendees usually sat. Five minutes...three minutes...two minutes until start time...then suddenly visitors started filing into the chapel and overflow area. Our regulars were obviously gone on vacation, but our visitors brought up our numbers to near normal.

Most of the visitors were extended family members of our long time members. They were here for family reunions, a mission homecoming talk, and "just because" visits to see the grandparents. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that our missing ward members were swelling the congregations of other wards, somewhere else that day. Summers are like that around here.

My family means everything to me. I am certain that's true of most people I know. We take any opportunities we get to go visit family or welcome them to visit us. It always amazes me that we've gone from a very young couple to this seemingly ever-growing group in the space of 47 years.

That's why this hymn about building righteous families is so relevant for today. "From Homes of Saints Glad Songs Arise," written by Vernald W, Johns (1902-1999) and G. William Richards (b. 1914), gives sound principles for raising strong families in faith-filled homes. In this arrangement, I've added a third verse about the LDS doctrine of creating bonded, eternal families.

"We seek God's blessing on our homes
To strengthen family ties;
To lift us to the highest goal,
That great eternal prize.
When hearts are bound in covenant,
And graced with righteousness,
We'll live together eternally
And find true happiness.
Then sing, O Saints, in hymns of praise,
Sing praise to God on high!"

It occurred to me when creating this arrangement, that dropping an eighth note here and there could give this hymn an unexpected lilt. Enjoy the occasional 7/8 bar with some syncopation. It's memorable and fun!

When Change Looks You Squarely in the Face

6/4/2025

As I was leading the hymn singing in Church last Sunday, I had the chance to look around at the congregation. When we moved into this neighborhood nearly 16 years ago, things were different. There were many families with growing children. Now, there are only a handful of families with young kids. And those families that had kids are now empty-nesters or at least nearing it.

The two largest demographics in the neighborhood now are the 70+ crowd and the young marrieds with maybe one or two babies. Most of those very young families are college students and will move away once they finish getting thier degrees. We have turned into a Ward of "Newly-Weds and Nearly Deads." One couple mentioned to me that over their 20 years living in the neighborhood, they have seen this happen before. As the older people move or die off, then younger families can move in. Sure hope that happens and revives our neighborhood again..

This is yet another example of CHANGE. I've had some big changes in my situation, too. I've gone from being one of the families with children, to an empty-nester couple, to becoming a widow, and now a grandmother who sometimes has grandchildren living in her extra rooms to go to college. The changes we live through during this mortal experience can be both rewarding and brutal at times.

Some changes are welcome like watching the seasons roll around, flowers bloom, and the trees go through their yearly glorious color spectacles. Other changes are more difficult, like watching the kids who grew up doing my Summer Theater Camps in this neighborhood to realizing that they are off now to college or missions or even marriage.

These changes have come too fast!!!

Maybe the only changes I want to negotiate for a while are key changes and modulations. Here's a choir piece that is another example of changes. New melody to an old text, different setting, and quite a few modulations. In my estimation, these are just fun changes, and don't rock your entire world.

"With All the Power of Heart and Tongue" 2-Part Mixed with Organ, text by Isaac Watts 1674-1748, musical setting by Betsy Lee Bailey.

Ladies Who Lunch

5/12/2025

Ladies who lunch...

When I was little I couldn't understand why older ladies felt the need to go out together for lunch --- especially when I didn't get to go with them

Now that I am older, I get it. Getting together with beloved friends (without the kids) is great! It is so fun to see and catch up with people you have spent time with before and haven't seen in a long time. It is so nice to be able to renew old friendships and jog the brain about wonderful times spent together in previous years.

For the May 10th, 2025 Tabernacle Choir Emeritus Ladies Luncheon, many of us retired singers got to be together for a brief time. A lot of that time was spent hugging, laughing, and singing together. Not quite the same as singing together in the Tabernacle Choir, but delightful still.

We all wore name tags that also included the dates we sang in the choir. That really helped. As we age, hair colors and styles change. Who knew so many of us would go grey or white? (I guess that's normal, but it makes it harder to recognize people.) We get wrinkles, too. Not what any of us wanted. Our voices may show wear and tear, as well. But as we sang together, somehow the sound was still beautiful.

The noise in the room got louder and louder as we were visiting and laughing and hugging for the hour before the luncheon. I felt sorry for this one lady who looked very lost. She was struggling to be able to discern conversations. She was also having trouble finding anyone who had served in the choir during her time that she might remember. No wonder, she joined the choir in 1968 and left in 1971. And when she joined, she was only 17. There really weren't many left from that era, if any. (In those days the minimum age limit of 25 years old was not yet enforced.)

This was not a time for much in depth conversation. We could barely hear the "Hello! How are you" greetings above the din. But, we knew that we treasured the shared memories that were brought back into focus from being together again. So we whipped out our phones and took pictures.

Good times. Great memories. Lovely ladies who lunch...

When I retired from the Tabernacle Choir, I handed out one of my hymn arrangements. It contained a line I just loved: "...and there we'll meet in the heavenly choirs and sing His praises above." That summed up my hopes for the future to meet and sing with these dear people again --- even if it is not until we meet in heaven.

"Come All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth" SSAA and SSATB

Elementary School Chorus Concert

5/5/2025

Boy was I surprised when I attended my 6th grade granddaughter's elementary school chorus concert last week! Most of the elementary school music concerts I have gone to have been less than impressive. And sometimes, my heart was really hurt knowing that the concert was all about getting the kids to sing loud (usually in a monotone yelling) rather than working on proper singing techniques.

But I have to say, that I was really impressed that this group sang in proper ranges for young children, were encouraged to sing in their head voices to better learn to match pitch, and also sang some pretty sophisticated music. I expected some 2-part songs, but was actually quite surprised when they sang some three and four-part songs! Granted, these were mostly canon parts, but also some actual three-part treble voicing - Soprano I and II plus Alto in sections.

My granddaughter has been taking vocal lessons with me for a couple of years now. She has been developing a lovely voice that spans about three octaves. She can sustain notes above the staff as well as sing alto notes below the staff. I am glad that she was in the soprano section though, because that's where I think her clearest "money notes" are.

All in all, I was really pleased that this teacher was so focused on having the children sing with proper posture, attention to vowels and good diction, and using their head voices. It made the experience as an audience member so much more enjoyable for me. I really enjoyed the choices of songs, too. There was quite a range. They sang songs about the theme which was "Music," such as "The Sound of Music," plus other folk songs, songs from various style periods, and even one song in Spanish. Well done, Teacher!

I wish all of the Elementary School Choral concerts I attended were as well planned and executed!

The Music of Betsy Lee Bailey copyright 2020